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Joe Krozel notes: Here's a puzzle I devised an Excel algorithm
to build ... though could be built more easily
today with direct use of Crossword Compiler.

As a launching point, I first draw attention to
the intersection points of the 5 horizontal and
5 vertical 15's:

IREIE
EIEIN
ESOLI
NTNCA
IOEAO

Reading horizontally, these are the letters that
appear in positions 3, 6, 8, 10, 13 of their
corresponding 15-letter words. Reading
vertically, the positions are 3, 5, 8, 11, 13.
Note, for instance, that the last row IOEAO
represents STING OPERATIONS in the puzzle,
but also fits the pattern for JOINT OPERATIONS.

A key feature of the matrix is the heavy use of
common letters R ,S, T ,L, N, A, E, I, O. (The
letter C is the one outlier). The common letters
would assist my algorithm below since slight
variations often represent other words. For
instance, if IOEAO is changed to IOIAO, I find
that the latter represents OBIE NOMINATIONS.

So now, the basic notion of the algorithm was
this: I would build the matrix from the top down
and maximize my chances of completing rows
and columns based on shear numbers. I started
off with "good guesses" for the top two rows like
this:

IREIE
EIEIN
?????
?????
?????

Examining the individual columns... I have 379
15-letter words in my word list that follow the
(abbreviated) pattern IE???; 469 for RI???;
326 for EE???; 255 for II???; 217 for EN???.
All very plentiful. Then, for each of these sets
I looked at what letters are most common as
the third letter ... while limiting myself to only
those which would successfully complete the
third row: (ESOLI — as a horizontal entry — gives
me THE COST OF LIVING).

The matrix now grows to:

IREIE
EIEIN
ESOLI
?????
?????

and the next iteration focuses on the columns
again; The number of 15-letter entries with
the pattern IEE?? is 50; There are 30 for RIS??;
38 for EEO??; 42 for IIL??; 12 for ENI??. The
main thing to note is that the choices are
quickly dwindling, and the iteration could easy
have halted with the completion of row 4.
If that had been the case, I'd go back to the top
with fresh choices for row 1 and 2 and repeat
the above algorithm.

But the matrix filled up, and the corresponding
15-letter entries were transferred onto a blank grid,
and the black squares were tossed in (with some
leeway). Unfortunately, the Scrabbly letters now
came out of the woodwork, but the challenge
was a manageable one.